locate certain files in a directory structure

14y2.1kVisual Basic .NET

In a C# 20008 application, I would like to accomplish the following task:
1. I would like to find all the files named *summ.xls that exist in a general folder structure like: C:\temp. However all the files individually are at lower levels like
C:\temp\09_20_2012\CUSTOMER1.

I would like to be able search for the files giving only a partial path.

I know the following would work if I gave the full file path of
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(C:\temp\09_20_2012\CUSTOMER1, "*summ.xls");

However I would like to know how to search for the "*summ.xls" by only giving the path C:\temp.

This way I would be able to look for all the applicable spreadhseets I need to work with.

2. Is there a way to be able to tell when the directory was last searched for a file? If so, how can I setup code to check for the "*summ.xls" file in the C:\temp directory from the last time the search was setup?

5 Replies

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Vulpes14y ago
Accepted answer
If you're only interested in searches that have taken place during the current running of the program, then I'd save the Dictionary to an instance field of the class which does the searches (or to a static field if you create more than one instance of this class).

However, if you're interested in searches which took place when the program was last run as well, then I'd save the contents of the dictionary to a text file in (say) the same directory as your executable. You can then reload the dictionary each time you start the program:

// write dictionary to file, overwriting existing file, if any

StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("dict.txt");

foreach(string key in dict.Keys)
{
sw.WriteLine(String.Format("{0},{1}", key, dict[Key]));
}

sw.Close();

// Read dictionary from file

if(File.Exists("dict.txt"))
{
StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("dict.txt");
string line = sr.ReadLine();
string[] items = line.Split(',');
dict.Add(items[0], items[1]);
sr.Close();
}
dc14y ago
Thanks!
dc14y ago
I do want to know when the program last searched for a file.

You did have this comment:

However, if you just want to know when the directory was last searched for a file (by your program), then I'd create a Dictionary and store the directory name/ file path together with DateTime.Now in the Dictionary each time you make a search.

However my question is how am I going to save the value the last time the program searched the directroy path? Do I store the value in a file that the program has access to? Do I save the value as a hard-coded value in in the program somehow?

basically how doI have the dictionary datetime value?
Vulpes14y ago
To include sub-directories of c:\temp in the search, use this line:

string[] files = Directory.GetFiles("C:\\temp", "*summ.xls", SearchOption.AllDirectories);

If you're accessing files in the directory, you can obtain the date a particular file (or the directory itself) was last accessed by examining its LastAccessTime property.

However, if you just want to know when the directory was last searched for a file (by your program), then I'd create a Dictionary and store the directory name/ file path together with DateTime.Now in the Dictionary each time you make a search.

For example:

// store dictionary at class level
private Dictionary() dict = new Dictionary();

// in a method
dict.Add("c:\\temp\\*summ.xls", DateTime.Now);

// check if searched already

DateTime? lastSearchDate = null;

string filePath = "c:\\temp" + "\\" + "*.summ.xls";
if (dict.ContainsKey(filePath))
{
lastSearchDate = dict[filePath];
}
Frogleg14y ago
use
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(C:\temp\09_20_2012\CUSTOMER1, "*summ.xls",SearchOption.AllDirectories);